Subway Cell Service

In September 2007, the MTA chose a little-known company named Transit Wireless to receive a $200 million contract that would allow it to equip all underground subway stations with wireless capabilities. It seemed almost too good to be true, and we quickly learned that, in fact, it was. Just one month later, the agency revealed that Transit Wireless had no financial backing, and as of June 2009, the company was still insolvent.

Yesterday, though, a light — or is that a bar of cell service? — appeared on the horizon as the MTA announced that the deal with Transit Wireless is back on track. Pete Donohue had more in the Daily News:

Transit Wireless will soon start work on wiring stations so riders can make calls and send texts during everyday travels – and during emergencies. Under the original agreement, Transit Wireless was to rig the first batch of Manhattan stations within two years of getting the construction go-ahead. The company would then have four years to wire all other stations.

The MTA board approved the project in September 2007. It didn’t give the “notice to proceed” until last week because the MTA doubted Transit Wireless had solid financing, sources said. MTA brass finally gave the outfit an ultimatum to lock in funding or lose the contract, one source said. Transit Wireless has since brought another company on board, Broadcast Australia, the source said.

Once complete, riders will have cell-phone service on platforms, mezzanines and other parts of stations. For the most part, there won’t be onboard service between station stops. Under the deal, cell-phone companies would pay Transit Wireless to carry their signals, and the MTA would get half the revenue, sources said. Transit Wireless is expected to cover all construction costs.

As Donohue’s sources note, this push to deliver on a three-year-old contract appears to be coming from Jay Walder himself. The MTA CEO and Chairman has made realizing technological innovation at the MTA a priority during his first year at the helm, and although he mentioned that wireless signals underground would not take precedence over projects easier to implement, if the MTA can exploit an outstanding contract that requires another company to pay for the work, they should do so.

On the other hand, I’m not going to count these wifi chickens before they hatch. Transit Wireless’ website is still stuck in late 2007, and the company originally claimed it would pay out a minimum of $46.8 million to New York City Transit over ten years while footing the cost for building a wireless network underground. The price tag on that was pegged at $150 to $200 million three years ago.

Meanwhile, in a person-on-the-street piece, NBC New York’s Jillian Scharr found that reaction among straphangers was mixed. Some look forward to cell — and more importantly, data — service underground while others view it as loud conversations that should remain private invading the public sphere. At least the tunnels won’t be wired so the conversations will stop when the trains arrive. That is, if this plan comes to fruition in the first place.

The MTA, long known for its tight control of its transit data, hosted last night its first developers conference. The agency partnered with Google to discuss with local software developers how it can better create an environment of open information so that entrepreneurs and engineers can produce applications that will help riders with their commutes.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the conference due to my law school finals schedule, but I was able to watch some of it online. One the more intriguing announcements came from MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder when he previewed an app contest the authority will host this fall. With new volumes of open data available to the public, the MTA is going to award prizes for the top three applications in three categories: Best Customer-Friendly Application, Best Visualization of MTA data and Best Mash-Up of MTA and Third-Party Data. The possibilities are endless, and smart phone-equipped riders will be the ones who benefit.

Yet, despite this attention to mobile application development, the MTA is still lacking underground cell service and a plan for implementation. Walder addressed that topic tonight during the Q-and-A session, and Allen Stern of CenterNetworks.com caught the clip on video. Walder spoke about his annoyance with the state of cell service underground and how he is “frustrated with pages upon pages of why it’s not going to happen this decade.”

Currently, he explained, the MTA has issued an RFP for wireless service on commuter rail lines and has signed a deal to equip Grand Central with wireless, but their plans for Transit remain in limbo. “We have a contractual arrangement to be able to get cell service into the subway as well and I hope that we’ll have that in the not too different future as well,” he said. “I think the timeframes we have established for this are simply unacceptable. I don’t believe we can explain to people why it will take until 2019 or something of that nature to be able to get cell service into the subways. And so we’re working on a range of different ways to be able to do it. But it does turn out to be one of the more problematic and vexing issues we’re facing.”

Walder has a reason to be annoyed. The MTA has been talking about underground cell service since 2005 and signed a deal (with a company many believed to be less than reliable) in September 2007. When the promises of a pilot six months after that failed to materialize, I figured the efforts to bring wireless underground were all but dead. It isn’t surprising to hear a decade-long timeline from Walder.

Underground cell service is a tricky thing though. As Stern wrote, “I can’t say I am a huge fan of cell phone service underground. It’s bad enough having to listen to music I am not interested in as if I was at a concert, now we will be subject to 200 phone calls as well.” One of my Twitter followers echoed those sentiments: “Personally I enjoy the one hour of my day that isn’t interrupted by phones, texts and emails.”

But it goes well beyond idle chit-chat and personal conversations. Having a wireless-equipped subway system will allow for greater productivity. It will accomodate those who need to work and those who can’t afford to spend 40 minutes a ride without cell service the opportunity to be plugged in. It will allow New York to better take advantage of its position in a global economy. With the good will, obviously, come the bad of conversations that are too loud or too inappropriate, but that’s the price we pay today. The subways shouldn’t be island away from the technologies of the 21st Century.

It is, then, somewhat ironic for the MTA to be so invested in open data when the phones that run these promised applications don’t work underground. Hopefully, the authority can show a commitment to this aspect of the technology as well.

Cell service in the New York City subway has become something of a afterthought around town. Every two years or so, the story pops up in the news, and the MTA claims cell service underground is “coming soon.”

In fact, 18 months ago, the MTA signed a contract to start rolling out cellular service to every underground station. The pilot program was originally supposed to be ready two years after that. I wonder if we’ll actually see cell service in six months or so. Anyone want to bet on it?

Meanwhile, down in DC, where the cavernous Metro is, at some places, hundreds of feet deeper than the New York City subways, cell service for Verizon customers has been a fact of life for DC riders since the WMATA and Verizon started developing a system back in 1993. This collaborative effort between the transit agency and a cell carrier led to a Verizon-built and -owned network, and the WMATA got a free underground radio system out of the deal.

Yesterday, Metro announced that the entire system would be covered by all major U.S. cell carriers and Wi-Fi service by 2012. New York will have to play catch-up soon. Dr. Gridlock of The Washington Post reports:

Twenty of the busiest underground stations will have expanded cell phone service by the end of this year, and the entire rail system will be equipped by 2012, Metro said in an announcement this afternoon…

Four companies — Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile — will build a new wireless infrastructure in the underground rail system during the next four years, the announcement said. The companies will design, build, operate, maintain and own one wireless network. They also will build a second wireless network, which Metro will own, operate and maintain for its operational and public safety communications…

The wireless contract will generate a minimum of nearly $25 million during the initial 15-year term and an additional $27 million during the five, two-year renewal terms, Metro said. Other FCC licensed and unlicensed carriers can gain access to the networks either through entering into agreements with Metro or the group of carriers, all of which will produce additional revenue for the transit agency.

Thus, the obvious question: If the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority can enter into such a favorable deal, why can’t the Metropolitan Transportation Authority?

I understand that New York City’s system is far more extensive and significantly older than D.C.’s Metro. It’s also much closer to the surface and, to my amateur eye, would seem to be far more conducive to underground cellular service than a system that features stations 160 feet below ground.

While the MTA struggles to find money to cover operating expenses, the transit agency has to keep an eye out to the future. It has to be able to maintain New York’s competitive edge in a cutthroat global economy. Inevitably, that means equipping the city with a state-of-the-art transportation system. If DC can do it, so could New York.

This morning, during the piece on the shakey future of Transit Wireless, I teased you all with promises of some ridiculous stories about subway cell service. Well, wait no longer because here they are.

First up is Councilman Oliver Koppel, a Democrat from the Bronx. Mr. Koppel wants promises of cell-phone-free subway cars. I’ll give you a second to catch your breath from all of the laughing.

Here’s the story: Councilman Koppel is rightly concerned that some riders will be annoyed when others start shouting into their cell phones on the subway. Instead of limited cell service to platforms only, Mr. Koppel has proposed cell-free zones, much like those used by Amtrak on their long-haul runs, in subway cars. Better yet, Mr. Koppel claims that passengers will be self-policing when it comes to designated cell-free zones.

Come on, Oliver. Haven’t you ever ridden the subway? Haven’t you enjoyed sitting next to someone with their iPod up so loud you can hear the words to the songs they’re listening to? Haven’t you enjoyed the singular pleasure of sitting in a car with someone playing music out of their cell phones with no headphones? If he really thinks subway riders are going to be self-policing when it comes to cell-free zones, I have a bridge to sell Councilman Koppel.

But wait. It gets better. I know, unbelievable, but stick with me. Another council member is worried that passengers on their phones may lose focus of their surroundings and wander off the platforms and on the tracks. Councilman Simcha Felder — proud supporter of the F Express Plan — may take the cake with this one. Colin Moynihan at The Times’ Cityroom blog reports:

A different concern was raised by Councilman Simcha Felder, who said that he feared that riders might become engrossed in platform phone conversations and mistakenly wander off of the edge of the platform and fall onto the tracks below. He asked that phone reception be halted at the broad yellow stripe that lines the edges of most platforms.

“Why does there have to be cell service to the end of the platform?” he asked. “At least this way it would automatically stop people from walking into the trains or walking off the platform.”

I have no sarcastic comment for that one. It wins. Hands down. What more can I say?

This city has 191 above-ground or at-grade subway stations that already cell phone friendly. How many people have ever wandered into the path of an oncoming train because they were so engrossed in their conversation that they completely lost track of their surroundings? I’m not sure what Mr. Felder does when he’s on the phone, but I think most people maintain at least a minimum level of awareness of what’s around them. People don’t walk into each other (often) or into the paths of oncoming trucks while ambling around the city with their cell phones. They certainly won’t fall onto the subway tracks because they’re on the phone.

So there you go. Your elected officials: worrying about things that are so beyond the realm of believability.